Internal combustion engine



April 11, 1933.

2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Dec. 30, 1929 gwumi oz Jess: E. VINCE/v1 April 3- J. G. VINCENT INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed Dec. 30, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 W I H gmmtom JEEEEfiI/mrcewr Patented Apr. 11, 1933 UNITED STATES I JESSE e'. vINoENT, F DE RoIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR To. PaoxA n Moron oAnooM- PANY, 0E DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION or MICHIGAN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Application filed December 30, 1929. Serial No. 417,361.

This invention relates to internal combustion engines and more particularly to the fuel feeding and exhaust systems of such engines.

" .It is'one of the objects of the invention to provide anengine having an improved system of intake and exhaust passages and manifolds adapted to'supply fuel mixture to and remove exhaust gases from the engine with a minimum of frictional loss, so as to increase the volumetric efiiciency, and to pro vide a cylinder block adapted to cooperate in the attainment of these results.

Another object of the invention is to pro-- "2'5 from the following description taken in connection with the drawings, which form a part ofthis specification, and in which:

Fig. l is a view, partiallyin end eleva tion and partially in transverse vertical sec 3'0 tion, through aninternal combustion engine constructed in accordance with this invention; r

Fig. 2 is a view partially in plan and partially in section substantially on the lines "'35 22 of Figs. 1 and 3, and

Fig. 3 is a detail section taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig.2. Referring to the drawings, at 10 is shown an internal combustion engine having a crank case 11 on which is mounted a cylinder block 12 provided with cylinders 13. This engine includes certain conventional elements, such as the cylinder head 14 adapted to close the cylinders 13 at their upper ends and having a re'cessfor each cylinder de-' fining a combustionspace 15 therefor, an oil pan 16 which closes theylower end of the crankcase and forms a reservoir for-lubricating oil for the engine, the crank shaft 17,

rotatably mounted in suitable bearings in the crank case and having cranks by which it is driven through connecting rods 18 from pistons 19, one of which is mounted in each of the cylinders 13, and suitable ignition apparatus including a timingand distributing device 21 through which electric current is provided for spark plugs 22, one of which is mounted in each of the combustion chambers. The cylinder block 12 is provided with valve ports 23, which are preferably arranged in a row or line parallel to and adjacent the row of cylinders 13, .and these ports communicate with the combustion spaces 15, there being two of the ports 23 for each of the cylinders. These ports arecontrolled by suitable valves 24, illustrated as poppet valves of a conventional'form, which seat on the periphery of the corresponding ports 23, and they are urged toward closed position by springs 25. The valves 24am opened against the springs 25, in proper sequence and in timed relation to the engine by mechanism including tappets 26, rocker arms 27 and cams 28, the cams being formed on a cam shaft 29 which is driven from the crank shaft 17 in any suitable manner, not shown. .It will be understood that of the pair of ports 23 communicating with. the combustion space of each, cylinder, one operatesto admit fuel mixture tothe cylinder, and the other to discharge the products of combustion therefrom, these ports being accordingly referred to as intake and exhaust valveports respectively.

To conduct the fuel mixture and the ex haust gases to and from their respective ports 23, the cylinder block is formed with intake passages 31 and exhaust passages 32. These passages extend from their respective valve ports 23 through the cylinder block to the side thereof, terminating in intake ports 33 and exhaust ports 34 respectively, which are preferably inclined,or disposed diagonally to the horizontal. For this purpose the side of the cylinderblockis formed with an integral rib 35, longitudinally disposed, which provides a pair of adj acent inclined surfaces or planes 36 and 37, and the ports 33 and 34 are'loc'ated in these faces. The face 36in which the intake ports 33 are provided, is inclined downwardly with respect to the horizontal, or with respectto a plane normal to the cylinder axes, and the face 37 in which the exhaust ports 34 are formed, is inclined in the opposite direction or upwardly.

Thus it will, be seen that the intake passages 31 extend diagonally upwardly in'a nearly straight line. from the intake port 33 to the valve port 23. These passages are also branched'or .widened' out, longitudinally of the engine to communicate with the intake valve ports 23 of two adjacent cylinders, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. Each of the intake ports 33, therefore, is connected to and adaptedto serve two of the engine cylinders, the intake valves of adjacent cylinders being ar-' ranged in pairs for this purpose.

The exhaust passages 32 on the other hand,

leave their exhaust valve ports 23 in a down a ward direction substantially parallel to the intake passages 31, but form an elbow curve upwardly to terminate at the upwardly disposed face 37in the exhaust ports 34. In this way the intake and exhaustports are .disposed substa tially at rightangle's to each other. l To supply fuel mixture to the intake ports 33,- an intake'manifold 38 is provided at the side of the engine and maybe supported from the inclined face 36. This manifold 38, best shown'in Fig. 2, comprises a pair of conduits 39 and 41, having an integral central portion'with a common wall 42. Disposed in either direction from the central portion of each of these conduits a curved branch por tion'43, extending inwardly toward the cylinder block, and having an up curved end provided with a flange 44 by which it may be suitably'attachedto the face 36. The ends of the manifold branches are thus normal to the face 36 and in line withthe passages 31, and each has its terminus in registry with the corresponding intake port 33. r V r W The manifold conduits 39 and 41 are disposed in the same horizontal planes, the conduitj39 lying between the conduit 41 and the cylinder'block. Inthis way the manifold is arranged so that each ofits branches feeds only two of the engine cylinders. .The inner conduit has its ends connected'tothe intake ports atthe middle of the cylinder block and each'of its branches feeds fuel to two of the four middle cylinders. The outer conduit 41 is connected at its ends to the intake ports at the extreme ends ofthe block, so that each branch of this conduit feeds the two-cylinders at one end of. the engine. This arrange ment greatly improves the distribution of the fuel mixture among. the cylinders, and the engine efiiciency, accordingly. v

, Thisv also permits the branch portions of the'manifold conduits to be constructed of considerable radius, making a smooth-easy curve which may be followed by thefueljmixsingle reservoir or float chamber.

ture with a minimum of friction, thus greatly increasing the eficiency of the manifold.

The manifold conduits 39 and 41 are provided at the bottom of their central portions.

double carbureting elements arranged in parallel and supplied with liquid fuel from a "As carburetors of this nature are well-known in the art to which this invention relates, these parts are not shown in detail and it is unnecessary to describethem'further. However, while the duplex carburetor as shown is preferred, it

is to be understood that separate carburetors may be used ently.

To remove the exhaust gases, the ports 34 communicate with the branches 51 of an exhaust manifold 52 arranged, in the embodimentshown, above the intake manifold38. These branches 51 are provided with terminal flanges 53 adapted to be clamped or otherto feed the manifolds independwise secured to the upwardly disposed face 37 on the cylinder block. The upper surface of the manifold 52 is preferably provided with cooling ribs or flanges '54, and the manifold is connected at its end to an exhaust pipe (not shown) by which the exhaust gases are conducted away from the engine in the usual The invention also provides novel and efiicient means whereby the fuel mixture is heated by heat derived from the exhaust gases.

To this end a portion ofthe intake manifold 38 is provided with a housing 55, surrounding and spaced from the outer wall of the conduits 39 and 41 to define a heating chamber or jacket 56.

Preferably the jacket 56 surrounds and is adapted to heat that portion of the manifold into which the carburetor tubes 47 discharge, and for this purposeis supplied with exhaust gases from the engine. The housing is providedwith short conduits 57, at the ends of which are ports 58 which register with ports 59 in the lowerinclined face 36 on the cylinder block. These ports 59 are respectively connected through branch passages 61 with the main exhaust passage 32 from two of the cylinders 13, the passage 61 forming a Y with the passage 32 in each case. In this way there is a direct connection between the exhaust valve port 23 oftwo of the cylinders and the jacket 56, so that part of the exhaust gases from these cylinders may pass direct- 1y intothe jacket, the remainder going through the passages 32 and 51 into the exhaust manifold 52. It will be understood,

municate do not fire together. In the preferred embodiment,:the passages 61 are connected to the exhaustpassages from the two middle cylinders of the engine. When one of these cylinders is exhausting, part of its ex haust'fiows through the passage 61 and conduit 57 into one end of'the jacket. Inthe meantime, the passage 61'to the other cylinder serves as an exhaust passage for the jacket, conductingthe gases in a reversedirection, so that such gases as'are in the jacket tend to escape through the Y connectionvia passage 5ljintothe exhaust manifold 52. Hence, the jacket 56 may be said to have twoopenings which act alternately both as inlets and as outlets for the jacket. While much of the gas entering'the jacket is passed directly across to the other passage 57, still the effect is to keep the jacket more or less filled with fresh hot exhaust gas, which has a quasi circulation, passing around the jacket first in one direction and then in the other. This results in very effectively heating the intake manifold without the necessity either'of providing a separate exhaust conduit for the jacket, or permitting the jacket gases to exhaust into the air. r l r The operation "of this structure will be apparent from the above description, and its ad vantages will also be readily understood. By reason of the disposition of the intake manifold and the diagonallydisposed intake ports, the number of turns in the path of the fuel mixture is a minimum thus greatly reducing the friction losses through the conduits and securing a larger volume of charge for a'given vacuum. This, of course, increases-the v01- umetric efliciency of the engine.

At the same time the inventionprovides a simple construction. of manifolds which isv easily manufactured and readily assembled, and in which the exhaust manifold and the intake manifold are entirely separate and independent of each other.

The disposition of passages in the cylinder block also permits the intake manifold to be heated by exhaust gases drawn directly from the engine exhaust ports, and the system of supplying these gases to the exhaust jacket 7 secures effective heating without troublesome provision for removing the heating gases from the jacket.

While a specific embodiment of the invention has been herein described, Which is deemed to be new and advantageous and may be specifically claimed, it is not to be understood that the invention is limited. to the exact details of the construction, as it will be apparent that changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope.

of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is: r

1. The combination in an internal combustion engineof a cylinder block having valve ports communicating withthe cylinders,.said

block being formed on one sidewith adjacent faces diagonally disposed and provided with. ports, passages in said block connecting the ports to said valve ports, and a manifold connected-to the ports in each face.

2. The combination in an internal combustion engine of a cylinder..block having exhaust and intake passages communicating longitudinally disposed faces inclined in opposite directions to a horizontal plane, exhaust ports 1n one of said faces communicating with the cylinders, intake ports in the 1 other face communicating with the cylinders, and exhaust and intake manifolds connected to said exhaust and intake ports respectively. r

5. The combination in an internal combustion engine of a cylinder block having adjacent faces on the side thereof-inclined in opposite directions to a horizontal plane, exhaust ports in one of saidfaces communicating with the cylinders, intake portsin the other face each communicating with an adjacent pair of cylinders, and exhaust and intake manifolds connected to saidexhaust and intake ports respectively.

6. The. combination in an internal com bustion engine of a cylinder block having cylinders arranged in line and valve ports for the cylinders arranged in linebeside the line of cylinders, projections on the side of the block adjacent said valve ports defining faces inclined upwardly and downwardly respectively, ports in said faces,'pas'sages connecting the upwardly disposed ports to the exhaust valve ports, and passages connectingeach downwardly disposed .portto the intake valve ports of the adjacentpair of cylinders. r

7. The combination with an internal combustion engine including a cylinder block having intake ports, of manifold compris ing conduits having contiguous middle portions and branches extending away from said middle portions and curved to terminate; at said intake ports,-the curve in eaclrbranch being of considerable radius andhaving an bustion engine having exhaust and intake manifolds and exhaust passages communicating with said exhaust manifold, ofajacket surrounding a portion of the intake manifold and branch passages connecting two of said exhaust passages to said-jacket, said branch passages extending downwardly from and substantially at right angles to the exhaust passages.

9. The combination with an internal combustion engine. having exhaust and intake manifolds and exhaust passages communicating with said exhaust 1nanifold,'of a jacket surrounding a'portion of the intake manifold and having separated openings, and passage's'branched from two of the exhaust passages connected respectively to said open ings, said branch passages extending downwardly from and substantially at right angles to the exhaust passages.

"10. T he combination with an internal combustion engine having exhaust and intake manifolds, of a cylinder block having diagonally disposed faces inclined toward said,

, manifolds, exhaust passages in said block terminating'in ports in one face connected to the exhaust manifold, intake passages in said block terminating in ports in the other face and connected to the intake manifold, a heating jacket for the intake manifold, and branch passages in the block connected to two of the exhaust passages and terminating in the face disposed toward the intake manifold connected to said jacket. .11; In an internal combustion engine, intake and exhaust manifolds, a heater jacket for the intake manifold, a cylinder block having diagonally disposed faces inclined to wards the exhaust manifold and the heater jacket, exhaust passages in the block'terminating in ports in the face inclined toward the exhaust manifold, branch passages connecting said ports to the exhaust manifold, auxiliary exhaust passagesinthe block terminating in ports in the face inclined toward the heater jacket, and branch passagesconnecting the last named ports to the heater jacket. 1

12. In an internal combustion engine, in-

7 take and exhaust manifolds, a heater jacket for the intake manifold, 'a cylinder block having'diagonally disposed faces, one being inclined toward the exhaust manifoldand the other toward the intake manifold and the heater jacket, exhaust passages in the block terminating in ports in the face inclined towards the exhaust manifold, branch passages connecting said ports to the exhaust manifold, intake passages in the block ter- 7 Ininating in ports in the other face, branch passages connecting the last named ports to the intake manifold, auxiliary exhaust passages in the block also terminating in ports in the said other face, and branch passages connecting the last named ports to the heater jacket;

13."Inan internal combustion engine, a cylinder block .having intake and exhaust ports for each'of the cylinders, intake and exhaust manifolds arranged substantially in the same vertical plane, upwardly curving conduitsconnecting the intake manifoldwith the intake ports, and exhaust conduits curv ing curved to terminate in adiagonally up ward direction and said intake passages being substantially straight to termmate in a diagonally downwarddirection, faces on'one side of I the cylinder block having ports'in'which the exhaust and intake passages terminate respectively, and'exhaust and intake manifolds connected respectively to said ports.

15; The combination with an internal combustion engine having a cylinder block with cylinders disposed in line, said block having adjacent faces longitudinally disposed on the side thereof and inclined thereto above and below a horizontal plane, exhaustports 1n the upwardly disposed face connected to each of thecylinders, intake ports in the, downwardly disposed face each connected to adj acent cylinders, and'a separate manifold for the ports above and below said plane.

16. In an. internal combustionengine, the combination of av cylinder block having the cylinders arrangedverticallyand in line, a detachable cylinder head for the upper end of said block,-said block having exhaust and intake passages, communicating with the cylinders, said passages terminatingat one side of the block and wholly below said head, the

exhaust andintake passages terminating adjacent each other butinJplanes substantially at right angles to. each other, and manifolds connected to said exhaust and intake passages.

In testimony whereof I afiix signature.

' JESSE G. VINCENT. 

